


One Punch Titan

by cherishedwings



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, BAMF Eren, Basically he can defeat everything in one punch, Canon-Typical Violence, Crack Treated Seriously, Eventual Levi/Eren Yeager, Except not bald, Female Titan Arc (Shingeki no Kyojin), Gratuitous Canon Divergence, I will figure it out as I go, M/M, Minimal character death because they deserved better, Non-Graphic Violence, One Punch Man - Freeform, Return to Shiganshina Arc (Shingeki no Kyojin), Trost Arc (Shingeki no Kyojin), What if Eren is Saitama from One Punch Man
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:22:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28523907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherishedwings/pseuds/cherishedwings
Summary: Every single day for 3 years, Eren followed a strict training regiment.100 push-ups.100 sit-ups.100 squats.And a 10-km run.After 3 full years, Eren Jaeger has now achieved the impossible: the ability to defeat every enemy with a single punch.Except, in exchange for gaining strength, he wonders if he's lost something more important as a human being.
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Comments: 58
Kudos: 187





	1. The Battle of Trost

**Author's Note:**

> I'm probably not the only one that's imagined what would have happened if somebody in the AoT universe had Saitama (from One Punch Man)'s power. Part of what makes SnK so memorable is the brutality and subsequent sorrow we feel as we say goodbye to literally every single character that we've come to love. Therefore, my purpose behind creating this fic is to attempt to alleviate that by reimagining a world in which the Special Operations Squad survives, they are better equipped to deal with these ominous plots, and Paradis doesn't just continuously fall victim to the Marleyans' cruelty.

He’s not really sure when it began, really.

Though if he had to pick a time, he would guess that it would be somewhere near his graduation from the Cadet Corps. From 3DMG exercises to hand-to-hand combat, team building challenges, and general physical workouts, Keith Shadis never let them have a day off throughout the three years of mandatory training. It’s not so much his booming voice or scary face that inspires diligence, but rather the original goals that drove them to enlist in the army at the ripe age of 12 to begin with.

For some, like Jean, it was about status, power, and promises of a prosperous and easy future.

For some, like Marco, it was about service and honor—the opportunity to contribute to society at the highest level.

For Eren, it was about exterminating all Titans. The hatred for those monstrous beings, for the destruction of his home, for the death of his mother lit an insatiable fire within him that burned each and every day. It didn’t matter how many bruises or scratches he collected or when his muscles were pushed to the point that they would surely be screaming if they had vocal cords. He would keep going, and after he finally reached his limit, he would go one step further.

Mikasa would chide him and try to rein him in, but if anything her needless mothering would merely convince him to continue. Even Keith, for all his hard-assery and lifelong tenure in the military, acknowledged his spirit as something unique. “He possesses a sense of purpose that’s twice as strong as anyone else’s,” were his exact words.

Before others woke up at the crack of dawn, Eren would do 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10km run. To some, it might sound difficult and to others, it might sound like basic conditioning training. Regardless of how valuable the actual exercise was, it was more about the discipline to stick to a strict regiment beyond what was already required, no matter how sick or tired Eren was feeling that day or how awful it was raining. Eren was nothing if not determined, and he would be damned if anything could stop him if he set his mind to it.

Over the course of three years, the difference became gradually noticeable in his toned muscles and increased stamina and strength. Still, it wasn’t anything substantially more than what the rest of his classmates experienced, and Eren didn’t think much of it.

Until one day, perhaps a couple of weeks before their graduation, Eren looked in the mirror and noticed something different. His hair had grown longer. Not that that should be surprising, as hair should grow longer rather than shorter, but Eren was sure that the night before his hair was just above his ears, and yet now it seemed to have reached to the bottom of his ear lobe in just one night.

By the time they were in Trost and Sasha was dangling stolen meats in front of the other cadets, his hair had reached his shoulders and Eren elected to tie it up in a messy man-bun. How Mikasa was able to zip through forests and buildings with her hair flying in the wind was beyond him, and it wasn’t until he faced the same problem that he appreciated his short-haired days. Still, with all the chaos of graduation and being sent to Trost, he hadn’t had time for a haircut.

Eren had been excited at the prospect of finally joining the Scouts and achieving his childhood dream of wearing the Wings of Freedom. With so many of his fellow cadets also enlisting in the Survey Corps after his impassioned speeches, he was sure that this was the beginning of a glorious adventure—battling Titans, paving new paths, reclaiming land, and achieving victories for humanity.

Then the Colossal Titan appeared, and just as suddenly disappeared before Eren could deliver the killing blow. Wall Rose was breached, the Titans were unleashed, and he learned just how dismal their fight against the Titans really was.

But the fire that ignited within him would not be extinguished. If anything, seeing the monsters again for the first time in 5 years caused it to burn even more fiercely. He flew through the sky, slashing and twirling in the air as all the 3DMG skill he possessed was put to good use. It may seem like a futile effort with the unending flood of Titans pushing through the hole, but Eren was sure that if he could just kill them one by one, eventually they would collectively push back and prevail.

Then, he saw Thomas get eaten right in front of him.

Then, he saw Armin slip into the mouth of a Titan.

He’s not really sure when it began, really, but he knows when it fully manifested.

One moment, he was blocks away from Armin, and the next second, he is pushing the teeth of the Titan up with one hand as he grasps Armin by the fingertips and throws him to safety.

From Armin’s horrified expression, Eren is jolted with a sudden flash of understanding of what is supposed to happen next. The Titan will finally gnash his teeth down, his arm and leg that are currently preventing the mouth from closing will be unceremoniously chopped off, and he will be the one replacing Armin in the Titan’s belly.

And yet, that doesn’t happen. Instead, he pushes up with a thrust of his palm, and the next thing he knows, the Titan’s head from the top half of his teeth and up are on the ground below them in a steaming, bloody heap.

He hears Armin’s startled stammers in the background, but he has enough awareness, despite the shock, to deliver the killing blow to the nape before the Titan can reform.

“Wh-wh-what?” Armin is at a loss, though he is laughing slightly in giddy relief. The impossible has happened, and even in his traumatized state, the gears in his mind can’t help but whirl with the newfound information as he tries to analyze and figure out what happened.

Eren shrugs, not especially concerned. It’s a lucky shot, he guesses; maybe someone else had dealt injuries inside the Titan’s mouth or he happened to hit a lucky angle. Humanity is no closer to understanding these beasts shrouded in mystery, and Eren is accustomed to the idea that with Titans, you will never know. Anything can happen. Best not to question it, just keep moving forward.

After instructing Armin to stay clear on the rooftop until his senses come back, Eren speeds off to find more Titans to kill.

Looking back, he’ll realize that the exhilarated fear that had pounded through his veins had dimmed, and instead, been replaced by an odd sense of calm. As though he was merely chopping carrots during cooking duty or swatting away an irksome fly rather than fighting for his life against 12-meter tall Titans that had massacred his people.

It’s hard to describe, but if he had to, he supposes it’s like time has warped in a way to standardize all movement. The sudden bites or grabs from unexpected Titans that should’ve killed him before he had a chance to react now come into his awareness in the same speed as Mikasa handing him a bowl of soup or Armin tossing him a book from the library. Nothing is especially fast or slow—he has more than enough time to choose his next course of action and even ponder different options before selecting, as if he were at a marketplace and the vendor was letting him pick which loaf of bread he wanted to eat that day.

No, he’s not turning into Sasha. It’s more like being around Sasha for so long has caused him to naturally use food as a basis for comparison. As she taught him, food is a universal language.

To him, it may seem like time has warped conveniently, but to the objective observer—of which there was none at the beginning of this, but soon began to grow in number—it was that Eren had achieved ungodly speeds. Sure, he was using 3DMG just as he was taught, but if a Titan suddenly erupted out of a building and struck out at him, before anyone knew it there was a sliced nape and the Titan was dissolving. As if he disappeared and reappeared by magic, though in reality, he was just moving too fast for the human eye to trace his trajectory.

To call them sliced napes is also an understatement. Titan skin is notoriously hard, which is why all military personnel are equipped with enhanced steel weapons that can cut through the toughened material; even then, however, it takes a great deal of strength and often a burst of speed from 3DMG gas to achieve the power needed to successfully slice deep enough on the first try. Prodigies like Mikasa and, of course, Humanity’s Strongest, may find it easy, but even veteran soldiers have to team up or return for a second strike to deal the killing blow on occasion.

Yet somehow, Eren’s slices to the napes result in complete beheadings, and even gusts of wind that temporarily blind unlucky souls perched on nearby buildings—that’s how powerful they are.

It’s impossible. No human can have that strength, and certainly not a 15-year old cadet fresh out of training. It’s not possible, yet somehow, it is.

Eren isn’t exactly known for his intelligence—though to call him dumb would be not only an insult but also a blatantly untrue statement—so it’s not until 10 Titans later that he realizes that something is different. His muscles aren’t burning, like they do during training when they complete mock-Titan killing exercises in the forest. His body isn’t hurting, like it should when the harsh stress of the 3DMG straps squeezes into his skin. His lungs aren’t out of breath, like it should from the continuous movement of running, flying, twisting, and striking.

There isn’t time to puzzle over this new development, however, because Eren notices three things.

One, there is a crowd of Titans crawling and climbing around a central building, which Eren recognizes as the supply depot that contains extra gas and blades.

Two, there is a group of soldiers making their way _towards_ the danger, rather than away.

Three, there is a flash of red as one of those soldiers puts on a burst of speed and then starts falling, falling, falling down.

_You can keep this_ , he said, as he wrapped the scarf around her raven-black hair, looping it and awkwardly throwing the end on top of her head.

_Warm, isn’t it?_ He asked, as her previously deadened eyes began to glimmer once again.

Mikasa.

He doesn’t remember how much gas he has left or if he even remembered to use it. He just knows that Mikasa is falling, there are Titans roaming nearby, and he has to get there.

The next thing he knows, he’s there on the rooftop and Mikasa is laying on some bags of grain on the ground. A Titan is looming over her, and without thinking, he strikes.

His blades are embedded in a dead Titan carcass somewhere far back and he hasn’t had the opportunity to clip new ones in yet.

So, he punches.

The head of the Titan is now a splatter of red against the wall, like a tomato that was crushed.

The wall is now also cracked and broken, pieces of tile falling off and crumbling into dust.

He lands next to Mikasa, who is looking at him in shock. He reaches his hand out, and she takes it, on instinct, standing up.

“E-Eren…” Her eyes are wide, blinking rapidly as though to clear some haze of confusion.

He scratches his head, perturbed and slightly unsettled. There are more pressing matters at hand though, as an ear-splitting roar from a nearby Titan reminds them.

“What’s going on?” He asks instead. “Why are you going to the supply depot?”

Mikasa starts, but quickly recovers. “We’re all running out of gas. It’s the only way we can continue the fight.” She pats her gas canisters. “I’m out too.”

He checks his, and finds that he has some left. Not a lot, but enough to get to the supply depot. He crouches down and motions for Mikasa to get on his back, which she does, though not without some hesitation.

“I’ll slow you down.”

“I’m not leaving you here.”

She wraps her scarf more tightly, observing his determined expression, and nods before climbing on.

It should be hard to move with someone who is close to his own weight clinging onto him, but somehow it feels as if there’s no one on his back at all. He wonders for a moment if Mikasa is actually hanging on, but the hands curled tightly on his shoulders indicate that yes, she is.

When he launches them off the ground, he finds that he doesn’t need gas. The momentum is enough to get them up on the roof. And again, when he leaps to get to the next building, guided by the grapple hooks he shot into the wall. And again, and again.

They land in a room where the rest of their friends are, and Eren is relieved to see Armin made it safely there after all. He’s even happy to see the damn Horseface, though he would never admit it.

Armin concocts a plan—a brilliant one given the stress of the situation and the screams and roars that make them jump in fear.

They have an extra person, so as the one with enough gas left Eren decides instead to help take down the Titans who are still trying to enter the building.

They look at him like he’s crazy, which he probably is. Mikasa is shaking his arm, Jean is cursing his name, and Annie is looking at him with an odd expression, as though stupefied by just how well he fits his nickname of “Suicidal Bastard”.

He and Armin make eye contact, and he sees that his childhood friend is the only one who agrees with his next course of action. Enough time has passed between Eren’s miraculous takedown of the Titan who was about to eat Armin, and the blond-haired genius witnessed Eren mow through even more Titans afterwards with inhuman power. He knows that something is different, and he trusts that Eren will capitalize on that change, however long it will last.

Wrenching his hand out of Mikasa’s grasp, he gives them a nod of good luck—and farewell—before jumping back out into the open.

He decides to not insert new blades into the empty hilt to test his power. Yes, he is indeed a Suicidal Bastard, but to be fair there’s been enough evidence so far to indicate that this isn’t the worst idea. First time was luck, second was a coincidence, so by the tenth, eleventh, twelfth time it should be considered something more.

With all the other soldiers hiding or inside following Armin’s plan, the Titans sense him easily, and they congregate hungrily to feast upon this new prey. Fighting over themselves, pushing each other out of the way, grotesque smiles extending even more.

It reminds him of _that_ Titan, the one that saw his beloved mother as nothing more than a tasty treat, snapping her spine in half before devouring her whole.

The hate, which had dimmed slightly in the midst of the confusion, is back full-force.

Eren doesn’t think. He just reacts.

_Punch_. The Titan’s body is severed, the top half now only a pool of red on the ground.

_Punch._ The Titan is hit so far back that it smashes into a building and that building collapses. The Titan is now just a steaming heap of flesh.

_Punch. Punch. Punch._ Eren gives an experimental kick, and finds that it’s just as effective. Soon, there are only puddles of red goo where the previously raging beasts existed.

He is thrilled—elated, glowing with victory. He promised to eradicate every last Titan, and somehow he has been bestowed with the gift to do just that.

He keeps going, using his 3DMG to navigate his way through the demolished city to find more Titans to kill.

By the time the rest of his friends have made their way out, freshly stocked with full gas canisters and fueled with renewed energy from their successful adventure, they find that there are no Titans left for them to kill, at least in that part of the city.

Jean and Connie are spluttering with confusion, mouths open and heads turning so quickly that they are sure to experience whiplash. Sasha is sneaking a bite of a bread from her pocket, utilizing this time wisely—who knows when they’re going to die at this point, really. Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt are exchanging looks, though the exact nature of their silent communication is unclear. Mikasa is straining her neck to look for Eren, guided by Armin, who gives her a tap as he is jumping up and down and pointing “There, there!”

He is standing on a rooftop quite a bit away, but that’s not what they notice. It’s the two 15-meters that are in the midst of biting down that grabs their attention.

Jean yells, Connie and Sasha gasp, Mikasa _screams—_ the teeth are coming closer, and _move, Eren move, move, what are you doing?_

The next thing they see is two beheaded corpses, still standing, as though their bodies hadn’t yet realized that an essential part has been removed.

The heads land, one on the ground in front of them, its face still twisted in a hungry smile, and the other on the building behind them, its tongue lolling out.

There is silence, for a brief moment, until—

“What the _fuck_?!”

Jean, of course it’s Jean, but this time he has voiced a thought that everyone else shares, as they try to process what happened. Before anyone can say anything further, however, Eren is there. There, right in front of them, standing around and smiling as though they were just meeting up for lunch and he is a bit late.

“What’s next, Armin?”

If he’s bothered by the many eyes boring into his skull or by Mikasa who has him in a vice-like hug, he doesn’t show it.

By all accounts, Armin shouldn’t be taking these new developments into stride, but diamonds are made under pressure, and the previously untapped potential in his brain chooses to manifest now, in a similar fashion to Eren’s strange new abilities.

“We need to plug the wall.”

* * *

Humankind has always needed order. Without order, there is chaos. When they first joined the military, they thought there was order. Everything from where you stood to how you were addressed to what paperwork you needed to sign and how you were split up was predetermined by some formula or rule that grizzly old men in the inner city decided long ago. All for the purpose of ensuring that mankind would not implode from mayhem.

And yet. That order is apparently incredibly fragile. The uniformed men who strutted down the street, mocked and spat on refugees after deeming them to be nothing more than parasites on their beloved society are now running around, screaming, hiding, crying, pissing themselves out of fear. Though the Garrison is above the Military Police in terms of usefulness—seriously, the police are nothing more than corrupt pigs—few had seen Titans firsthand, other than those unlucky souls who were in Shiganshina that fateful day five years ago.

The Scout Regiment, the beacon of hope, is unfortunately away on an expedition. Surely they would be called back or sense that something was wrong, that the society they aimed to protect by furthering mankind’s understanding of these beasts is currently in danger of being destroyed by those very creatures, but at the moment the Garrison is all they have.

In this case, chaos is actually a blessing. It allows a group of baby cadets to freely zip their way through the city as they embarked on their own plan to save the day.

Armin is the one who saw the boulder—though to call it a boulder was not enough. They had not yet developed a word to describe the rock in front of them—gargantuan in size, almost too large to truly comprehend. From afar, it is massive. From up close, it is simply too big to exist.

Eren is having doubts. He could get behind one-hit punches that beheaded Titans, but this? How is he supposed to move this? It has to be at least a thousand times larger, perhaps ten thousand times heavier than himself. He can’t even wrap his mind around it, let alone actually do anything to it.

He has to try, at least. His friends, his comrades, his people are depending on him. If he can lift the rock and plug the wall, then for once, humankind can claim a victory against the Titans. And Maria knows, they’ve only had defeats up until this point—piles and piles of corpses and broken families and destroyed cities serve to further prove this fact.

His friends are next to him, and the reassuring squeeze Armin gave him inspires him to take that first step. He bends down, hands scrabbling to get a firm hold of the boulder, and heaves.

Nothing happens.

He tries again, straining his back, focusing on using his core muscles.

It doesn’t budge.

“I knew this was a crazy idea,” he hears Jean hiss from behind him. “We need to leave, now. This is a suicide mission!”

“No! Just, just wait!” Armin is insistent. “Everyone find a post around us to keep a lookout for more Titans while we figure this out.”

Only Mikasa and Armin remain next to him, and for that he is grateful. He can’t stand to face the disappointed looks from the rest of the group.

“Maybe it’s like…performance anxiety,” Armin suggests. “You just need to focus. Think about all the impossible things you achieved until now, like when you saved me from that Titan. If you just don’t think of it as impossible, then it will be…possible.”

Eren isn’t sure what kind of philosophy book Armin pulled that out of, but he understands the basic message. The problem seems to lie in the fact that the task is too daunting. Killing Titans isn’t the same as trying to lift what looked like an entire castle-sized structure.

He closes his eyes. Not looking at the impossible would make it easier to believe. His hands scrape over the bumpy structure; it is reminiscent of the coals they use during the wintertime for fire.

Coal. It’s just a piece of coal, just slightly— _slightly_ —larger.

He imagines, for a moment, that the gargantuan structure is empty inside. Like a bubble that would appear when he scrubbed himself with soap. Except instead of the soft and rainbow globule, it has a crusty skin.

Crust. Bread. Jeez, he really needs to spend less time around Sasha. But in that moment, he thanks his lucky stars for the influence of the ravenous brunette.

Bread. A big ball of bread. Inside is fluffy and warm, outside is crisp and solid. That’s all it is.

He heaves, and hears startled shrieks and screams. He cracks open his eyes, and his jaw falls.

He’s doing it. Carrying the gigantic boulder over his head. He is afraid, for a moment, that this realization will trickle down to his muscles and they would collapse in fear. But they don’t. It doesn’t feel like he is carrying anything at all. Sure, he feels the solid rock rubbing against his fingers, but his arms aren’t particularly straining. It’s like he is merely holding an empty crate above his head, just as they had to do during training when supplies were delivered.

He has no idea how the fuck this is happening, but figures he better hurry up and plug the hole in the wall before the heavens realize something is wrong and reverse this magic.

Despite his ungodly strength, he can’t run. The boulder is much too big to be concentrated on such a small point of balance, and therefore he moves slowly, but surely, over to the wall. He focuses on each footstep, like an acrobat doing a tightrope walk, and ignores the chaos around him. If he had paid attention, he would know that his comrades were following his path and clearing the Titans that were trying to attack him. Well, it was 90% Mikasa and 10% everyone else, but still, credit should be given where it is due. His friends were running towards danger, placing their faith in him, and putting the rest of the Garrison and Military Police to shame.

Before he knows it, they’re there. Carefully, carefully, Eren bends his knees and settles the boulder down, pushing to ensure it is nestled into the hole.

He lets out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

Everyone around him is still with shock, mouths agape.

A second passes, then two.

Then, screams of jubilation—Sasha is jumping up and down, Connie is hooting and hollering, Jean falls on his ass, gawking at the plugged wall, Annie’s eyes are wide with disbelief.

Of course, it is always during these moments—the brief moments of relaxation—that things have to go wrong.

Two Titans that were hidden by the hole launch themselves at Eren.

Eren, straightening up to deal with the intruders, realizes that the ends of his jacket are stuck underneath the boulder, rendering him rooted to the spot, and panics.

Armin and Mikasa are too far away, and they watch in horror as the Titans close in on their beloved friend.

The heavens answer their call once again. A flash of movement, the sound of blades slicing through napes, metal cutting through flesh, and then, standing atop the boulder they see: the Wings of Freedom, a green cloak dancing in the wind.

The figure turns around. His black undercut, steel-grey eyes, and intimidating stare make it obvious who it is.

“What the hell is going on here?” Humanity’s Strongest demands.

* * *

Humankind has always needed order. Without order, there is chaos.

Nobody talks about the aftermath of chaos, which is the process of reinstating order. And apparently, to reinstate order, all potential objects of chaos must be restrained. Regardless of what triumphs and benefits they may have brought.

That was how Eren Jaeger found himself in a dungeon, chained to a bed, two guards with murderous yet fearful glares outside his prison 24/7.

If he had been any bit of a lesser man—boy, really, given that he’s only 15—he might have been indignant with outrage and demanding to speak to whoever was in charge.

But Eren, in one of his rare moments of wisdom, stayed quiet. Obedient. He followed their instructions, remained docile, and didn’t cause any trouble.

A small part of him is grateful. He still hasn’t fully processed his newfound powers and what the implications of such a manifestation were, and instead of being paraded around and stared at like an animal at a zoo, being jailed in an underground facility might actually be preferable. Yes, he’s still not being treated like a human, but in this moment even Eren himself questions his own humanity.

The other part of him is at peace. He had accomplished his goal in a way he never previously imagined possible. No, he hadn’t eradicated all Titans, but he did kill a substantial number of them rather violently and helped bring about their first victory in 5 years by reclaiming Wall Rose. Humanity triumphed, and Eren Jaeger is relieved. Regardless of what happens next, he knows he could die a happy man—boy.

Of course, no matter how much Eren tries to follow the rules, it just isn’t in his nature. He resists—an admirable effort, really, but anyone who knows him would have guessed that this wouldn’t last forever.

His nose itches. And the chains that restrict his movement prevent him from reaching his face. He tries maneuvering his face towards his finger, but is just a few inches short.

He knows, without opening his mouth, that his request for someone to unchain him so he can scratch his nose will be denied. He also knows that he can’t ask them to scratch his nose for him, because even his friends would probably refuse such a task.

He squirms, and for a while he tries to think about something else. But trying to _not_ focus on his nose just makes him pay more attention to it, and he’s sure that the itchiness has increased substantially.

_Just a little_ , he thinks to himself, as he twists his wrist to try and break the cuffs, just a little, so he can achieve his goal of scratching his nose.

The chains not only break from the stone wall, but they take half the structure with them. The dungeon is now filled with dust particles from the broken bricks and rocks, and Eren coughs as he hears the yells of the guards outside the cage.

_Oh well_ , Eren thinks internally, as he idly scratches at his nose. At least the itch is gone.


	2. The Special Operations Squad

They don’t know what to do with him. He didn’t _mean_ to break the chain and wall, but unfortunately in their view, intent and impact are virtually the same thing, and it’s the result that gets him into trouble. The Military Police are too afraid to guard him, fearful of what his strength could translate to should he decide to break out and they have to fulfill their duty to stop him. They don’t call for a trial, because who knows what would happen if he’s put in a room with the military’s highest officials—chains obviously don’t work, so who’s to say he won’t take advantage of that opportunity and initiate a coup d’état by himself?

Thankfully, Commander Erwin Smith and the rest of the Survey Corps live up to their suicidal reputation—the inner city folks will _never_ understand why anyone would willingly risk their lives outside the walls to fight the beasts that everyone fears so much—and take full responsibility for him. He’s placed under the care of Humanity’s Strongest, and soon he’s ushered off into one of their safe houses along with Squad Levi.

At least he got the green cloak. Every time he passes by a reflective surface, he can’t help but turn around to admire the Wings of Freedom on his back and nod appreciatively.

His introduction to Squad Levi goes well—or as well as it can go. Petra is kind, and extends her hand to shake his willingly. Oluo bites his tongue accidentally and enjoys strutting around like a peacock, but is otherwise harmless. Gunther and Eld are both quiet, but give him nods of respect.

Then, there’s Humanity’s Strongest himself. Eren can’t deny that he’s surprised when he learns that the greatest soldier of all of Paradis is a grumpy, anti-social 5’3’’ man whose hatred of dirt outweighs his hatred of Titans. But as he spends more time under his tutelage, he finds that it is comforting. Captain Levi is grouchy and never smiles, but doesn’t go out of his way to give anyone a hard time. His humor, while crass and weirdly always related to bathrooms and pooping, assures him that he’s just as human as anybody else. His penchant for cleanliness, while difficult at the beginning, gives Eren tangible goals to focus on that distracts him from this weird power that he now possesses.

Eren was never particularly talkative except during bouts of fervor to express his desire to eradicate all Titans, so the silence he often finds himself in when it’s just him and Captain Levi in the room is a peaceful one. He’s not allowed out of his sight—as part of the conditions of his assignment—but the Captain’s presence never feels imposing, and privately he thinks that Captain Levi might not mind him as much as he says—he’s always calling him a shitty brat, but Eren believes that it’s turned from a standard title to a somewhat fond nickname.

Fond might be taking it too far, but Eren hopes. Maybe one day. He sees the camaraderie that Captain Levi has with the rest of the squad, and though they seem to have accepted him, he knows that he’s still an outsider. He knows that if he steps a toe out of line, he’ll be executed immediately, and Squad Levi will continue to exist and move on. But a lonely part of him clings on to a desperate hope that maybe one day—in a few months, maybe years—they’ll accept him as a human too.

Because that’s what Eren has been struggling with the most since that fateful day at the Battle of Trost. His humanity.

He’s grateful for Hange, whose unbridled passion was initially startling but is now fully welcome. Out of everyone, Hange was the first to accept him with open arms, no strings attached. Well, actually there are strings—specifically, experiment-related strings. He’s pulled into their lab every day to do some test or another—Hange’s taken his blood, hair, saliva, even scraped off bits of his fingernails and dead skin to see just what has changed in his anatomy to make him this superhuman. So far, nothing has turned up different, other than the fact that his body temperature is slightly higher than average.

Still, Hange is undeterred, and Eren doesn’t mind their daily attempts to figure out just what the mystery is. He yearns to know the answer as well, because if there is a logical explanation, perhaps people would stop viewing him as anything but human.

The initial attempts to train him don’t go especially well. He’s asked to copy the advanced 3DMG movements that the rest of the squad have mastered, but he is clumsy by nature, and all that results in is tangled wires and unceremonious bonks to the head when he tries to spin too fast and ends up knocking into a nearby tree.

He still tries his best, though he is perplexed as to why he needs to hone his 3DMG skills when he could just as well curl his fingers into a fist and punch the target to get an even more comprehensive strike.

They tell him that it’s because he’s not always going to be fighting in a wrecked battlefield like Trost, where further destruction has no consequences. He might have teammates or buildings or other objects and people that need to be protected from the harm that comes from unrestrained attacks.

While he’s disgruntled that they don’t trust him to handle his own power, he knows that there’s a kernel of truth. When he punches or kicks, he doesn’t give too much thought as to what happens after, except hopefully a dead Titan carcass.

After an especially uninspiring training session that doesn't result in anything productive, he’s brooding over his lunch of soup and bread when he suddenly drops the spoon, and it clatters onto the ground before rolling further away, as if to mock him. He sighs, and reaches to grab it back. Unfortunately, it’s just a little out of his range, similar to the distance between his hand and nose during his detainment with the Military Police. Frustrated, he pushes down on the table to lean even further, and in that moment, several things happen.

First, the wooden table breaks in half and the crushed pieces fly everywhere.

Second, he hears the sound of blades being drawn out and startled shouts.

Third, he is surrounded by Squad Levi, who are all yelling at him.

Fourth, he succeeded in his mission to acquire his spoon. It is now safely in his hand. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the table of food, as evidenced by the soup spilled on the ground.

The old Eren Jaeger might’ve been bothered by the accusations being thrown his way. However, the odd sense of calm that had dawned upon him when his powers first manifested at Trost now permeates through him. It might have always been there, in the background, but he had never noticed. Now, he does. He merely glances left, right, backward, and forward and sees that Squad Levi did an excellent job in their positioning—everyone is equidistant from one another. The other thing he notices is that Captain Levi is not at the head of the mob calling for his death—that might be a slight overstatement, but Oluo’s yelling is really not helping—but rather standing almost protectively in front of him, his arms out as though to placate his team.

He hears Captain Levi talk them down from their paranoia. He hears, but it feels more like a distant observation, as though he were a third-party audience sitting idly by, watching the events play out with a removed curiosity.

Thankfully Hange comes bursting in, stroking the remnants of the bench like one would caress a lover, and the remaining tension dissolves. They insist on dragging him in to do a blood test to see if anything changed, but again, nothing is amiss.

Later that night, he and Captain Levi are sitting in the kitchen, drinking tea. The Captain asks him about his feelings regarding what happened earlier that afternoon. He supposes he ought to be disturbed, and something tells him that in a different life, it would have disturbed him greatly.

“No,” he says truthfully. “It doesn’t bother me.”

Captain Levi’s expression doesn’t change; he merely takes another sip of his tea. “It doesn’t bother you that they don’t trust you? That they were ready to kill you?”

Eren thinks about that for a moment. “I suppose it would bother me if they could actually kill me.”

At that, the Captain narrows his eyes. “What do you mean?”

He blinks. “They were ready to kill me,” he answers, “But it doesn’t matter. Whether or not they’re ready to kill me, they can’t. So what difference does it make?”

It is one of those rare occurrences where Captain Levi is rendered speechless, at least for a moment. “How are you so sure?” He finally asks, in a rather sharp tone.

He shrugs. “I just am.” He continues to swirl his tea a little, finding the temperature a bit hot for his liking. He takes a cautious sip, before appreciating that it has reached a perfect degree, and continues to enjoy his drink.

A normal person would be on the edge of his seat, scared out of their mind at the intimidating glare that Captain Levi is throwing his way. Something tells him that, again, in a different life, Eren would have reacted the same. Instead, however, the odd feeling of calm that never disappeared prevents him from noticing these important details. It’s like his senses, though sharpened to an impossible degree in the physical realm of fighting, have dulled in the emotional realm. He doesn’t feel much, really. Even the fire that had been burning within him throughout his life, fueled by his hatred of Titans, seems to have diminished.

Captain Levi doesn’t say anything more, and Eren doesn’t even notice that he has left the table until long after the fact. He registers this in the same way that one would comprehend that the barista that served him coffee at a cafe has gone to the back for a lunch break. The knowledge is there, but nothing else.

He washes his cup thoroughly before going to bed. At least he doesn’t have to sleep in the dungeon. There’s no point to locking him up if the chains have as much use as rubber bands.

* * *

There’s a benefit to this new emotional detachment. Fear, anger, sadness no longer cripple him in the same way they did before.

He wakes up one night, feeling a little thirsty, and gets up to go downstairs and find a cup of water. After drinking his fill, he walks back up, but overhears a thud.

Before he knows it, he’s at the source of commotion, and realizes he’s standing in front of Captain Levi’s room. The door, oddly enough, is not closed all the way, and Eren doesn’t think much before pushing it forward a little to peek inside.

The Captain is sleeping, but even from his position by the entrance he can see the furrowed brows and clenched fists. He watches as the Captain twitches again and emits a choked gasp as he clutches his chest as though in pain.

Nightmares. He remembers vividly what it was like to wake up in the dead of night in cold sweat, heart pounding wildly as he relives the worst day of his life—the attack on Shiganshina—over and over again. The fear that disables all other bodily function as you’re rendered useless to the overwhelming feelings of helplessness and despair. 

He hasn’t had a nightmare since his graduation, but he remembers. Automatically, it seems, he finds himself moving forward and climbing into the bed, gently wrapping his arms around the Captain, rubbing soothing circles into his back as he guides his face towards his chest so that his ear is directly pressed against his heart.

_Ba-dump. Ba-dump._ There’s something about being protected in a warm embrace and hearing another human’s heartbeat that is naturally soothing, and soon enough, Eren can feel the Captain relaxing in his arms, facial features smoothing out into a more peaceful expression. As the seconds pass, he grows drowsy as well, and his eyes close as he falls asleep.

It seems like only five minutes later that morning arrives. It’s not the sunlight that wakes him up, no. It’s the fingers clenched around his neck and the knee digging into his chest that brings him out of his slumber.

Strangely enough, it doesn’t cause alarm. He glances at the fingers and looks up at the murderous expression on his Captain’s face with mild interest. This seems to aggravate the raven-haired man even further, if the tightening of his hold is anything to go by.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Captain Levi snarls.

_Being choked by you_ doesn’t seem like the right answer, Eren reflects internally. Instead he opts for what he hopes is a safer answer, which is the truth. _The truth shall set you free_ and all. “Um—you had a nightmare, sir. So I—I thought I could help.”

“Help?” The glare doesn’t lessen in intensity.

“Help.” He confirms unabashedly, blinking owlishly up at him.

The silence lengthens, and Eren wonders if they’ll make it in time for breakfast as Levi continues to hover threateningly over him. By all means he should be some sort of pain, but he isn’t, and therefore Eren doesn’t give it any more thought.

Finally, the Captain lets go and turns abruptly around towards the door, but not before throwing a “Get out of my room” over his shoulder during his exit.

Eren stands up and brushes his clothes to get rid of the wrinkles, stretching his back and following in his footsteps. The tension that previously suffocated the room—for any normal person, it would seem—never touched him, so he shrugs off the encounter as he tries to guess what they’ll be eating for breakfast.

It turns out to be bread and baked beans. He’s not sure why he had hopes for something else, considering they’ve never had variety in their military rations, but he still takes the food gratefully and digs in. Had he felt the terror and chagrin that Captain Levi meant to instigate within him earlier that morning, he might have been uncomfortable with sitting at the same table as the man in question, but he didn’t, so to him nothing is out of the ordinary as he listens to the rest of the squad chatter.

Captain Levi, on the other hand, seems to be pretending that nothing happened too, though if one were to observe him carefully, they would notice his surreptitious glances at the boy. That, and the fact that his signature eye-bags that reveal his years-long insomnia are less apparent than usual.

The day passes by quickly. Eren gets his blood drawn by Hange, helps with chores around the building, and practices 3DMG maneuvers with the team. They’ve learned that he doesn’t need the gas canisters for speed, so those are removed, which allows him to move faster, though in the big picture it really makes no difference. The reduced bulkiness does make everything feel lighter though, so at least there’s that.

Oluo ditched his dish duty, so Eren is left to pick up the slack. It comes with being the new member after all—doing extra chores isn’t exactly a rough hazing ritual, so he doesn’t mind much. There’s something enjoyable about the motion of scrubbing and watching the dirt disappear. Since Trost, he hasn’t felt much enjoyment—there’s a part of him that’s concerned with his decreasing ability to feel much of anything—so this is nice. At least something can bring him some form of happiness, however slim.

When he finishes, he wipes his hands dry with the towel and heads up for a much-deserved sleep. As he passes by Captain Levi’s room, however, he stops. This time, it’s not a thud, but a groan that captures his attention. He hesitates, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he tries to figure out what to do next. The smart thing would be to follow the Captain’s orders and return to his room. But then he remembers the transformation he witnessed last night—watching as Captain Levi’s face change from an expression of pain to one of peace.

It’s not easy to be Humanity’s Strongest, all the time. He can’t pretend to know what it’s like to be Captain Levi, having just enlisted and joined the Scouts, but he thinks he has an inkling. A duty to adopt a facade for the sake of reassuring others that everything is under control. The model of perfection that serves to inspire and comfort others.

Nobody ever asks if such a being needs comfort, too.

Whatever consequences that will surely result from this decision, Eren will deal with in the morning. There’s more good than harm, he believes.

When he settles into the bed and wraps his arms around the Captain, he feels the man nuzzle into his chest, just a little. And that tells him everything he needs to know about whether he made the right decision. Soon, his breathing evens out as he too falls asleep.

This time, it’s not fingers around his throat. It’s a fist around his shirt that’s lifting him up from the bed that wakes him.

“Just what gives you the _fucking_ audacity to disobey my orders and intrude into my personal quarters once again?” Captain Levi snaps at him.

Eren is left grasping at straws. There’s no right answer, nothing that can possibly appease this angry man in front of him. So he chooses the truth, which seemed to work, at least a little bit, last time.

“You had a nightmare, sir.” His voice doesn’t waver, and his face is as innocent as ever. It makes Levi want to bash his head in.

“And?” His voice has dropped into a growl.

“And I wanted to help you get a good night’s sleep.” He says, before adding in another belated “sir.”

“What the _fuck_ makes you think I need your help?” Captain Levi spits, raising Eren up and shoving him into the wall so his head hits the stone with a rather loud _crack_. He doesn’t feel the pain though, only registers that his position has been elevated somewhat.

Eren considers this for a moment, biting his lip uncertainly before tilting his chin up to make eye contact. “Because even Humanity’s Strongest needs someone,” he declares.

Captain Levi freezes, his eyes widening. It’s the most emotion Eren has seen on his face. He’s not sure if he should be celebrating or running away.

They stay like that—it could’ve been for another few minutes or an hour—but eventually Captain Levi drops him onto the bed and slams the door closed on the way out without another word.

Eren runs his fingers over the back of his head, checking to see if there are any bumps or scratches. There aren’t, and he can’t help but feel inexplicably disappointed.

* * *

The next few nights pass the same way. Eren finds himself drawn to the Captain’s quarters when he overhears his nightmares and he wakes up to angry threats of violence. Once, the Captain even tried to kick his teeth out, but Eren automatically caught his foot much like one would stop a piece of potato from rolling off the edge of a table. He apologized afterwards, dropping the Captain’s foot and promising not to dodge the next time, but this only infuriates the man even more, and he leaves without saying anything else.

Though the Captain has decided to diminish their interactions during the daytime, Eren notes that he seems a lot more well-rested. The purple eye-bags have faded to a lighter hue, and he appears to have more energy than he did before. This only serves to strengthen his belief that he’s doing the right thing, and therefore he has no intention to stop.

Until one night, the Captain isn’t in his quarters. Eren rubs his head in thought when he opens the door to the empty room and he wanders around the building to try and find the man. In the end, he sees that the Captain is sitting on top of the roof, looking up at the sky. He doesn’t remember the exact path to get there from inside the building, so he opts to jump three stories up from the grassy field outside, landing lightly next to him.

Captain Levi is glaring at him. “Who said you could use your powers, brat?”

Oops. “Oh, sorry. I don’t remember how to get up here without otherwise, though.” He picks at his fingernails. “Sir.” He adds, after a second.

The Captain only huffs in exasperation, but doesn’t dismiss him, so Eren takes that as an unspoken permission to continue sitting there. The moon is rather pretty tonight—he can’t remember the last time he’s had the opportunity to admire the sky. With all the chaos of the past few months, he’s been kept busy.

He doesn’t realize that he’s humming absently until Captain Levi flicks his forehead. Unconsciously, his fingers trace over the slightly reddened area in bemusement and he ceases his humming.

“Why are you up here?” He asks, turning towards the Captain.

The raven-haired man doesn’t say anything, only spares him a withering glance before shifting so he’s sitting with his right elbow resting on a bent knee, the other leg stretched out.

“Nightmares?” He offers, seemingly oblivious to the Captain’s evident preference for silence.

Captain Levi gives a non-committal “Tch” and an irritated jerk of his head, as though trying to get rid of a gnat.

“I don’t get it,” Eren scratches his hair, resuming his one-sided conversation as though the Captain were actually replying to his queries, and the man turns sharply to look at him, eyes narrowed. “If it helps with the nightmares, then what’s wrong?”

Several moments pass by before Captain Levi finally breathes out a deep, weary sigh. “Do you really not know what’s wrong with you cuddling me in bed every night, you shitty brat?”

Eren cocks his head with a thoughtful “huh”, wiggling his bottom lip between his teeth as he looks at the Captain. “Is it because I’m a guy?” He ventures.

Captain Levi is staring back at him as though Eren had suddenly grown a second head. “Are—are you serious? Is that—is that what you think is wrong with you, a 15-year old cadet, sneaking into my bed and rocking me to sleep every night? Me, your direct superior who is tasked with killing you if you step a toe out of line?”

Eren shrugs helplessly, gesturing his hands in the air like _I don’t know._

Captain Levi scoffs and rubs his palms into his eyes as though wanting to erase this whole situation from his mind. “You are impossible,” he mutters. “How can someone be so goddamn clueless?”

On some level, Eren registers that he should be slightly offended, but ultimately he’s not. “I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing,” he replies bluntly. Captain Levi snaps his head up, expression growing dangerously stormy, but he plows on. “You’re Humanity’s Strongest. You’re the best shot we have to kill Titans and save other soldiers from becoming Titan chow out on the field. If you can’t even get a full night’s sleep, then how can you be in your best shape? How many more lives are going to be in danger because you have nightmares keeping you awake? Now, you have an easy solution being dangled right in front of you, but you’re being too uptight to just take it!”

It’s not until the Captain is hovering over him with a furious scowl that he realizes he may have overstepped his boundaries. “I—I—uh” He stammers, as he feels the Captain grab his hair harshly.

“Are you suggesting that I— _Captain Levi, Leader of the Special Operations Squad_ —don’t take my men’s lives seriously? That I’m rejecting this because of some goddamn hubris or stick up my ass?” He shoves Eren, causing his back to hit the surface of the rooftop. “You think I don’t _understand_ what my job is out there in the field? You think I don’t _understand_ just how many people are counting on me to bring them home to their families safely—unharmed, alive to see another day? You think I don’t _value_ each and every soldier?” His voice is rising to an angry shout now.

“How many bodies do you think I’ve buried, or worse, had to abandon because some goddamn Titan didn’t leave anything for us to take? How many times have I had to watch a comrade scream and scream and scream as they’re being eaten alive? How many nights do I relive those moments where I was too late—too powerless—too weak to save another teammate?”

Captain Levi is breathing heavily, his eyes flashing with fury, foot pressed down on Eren’s chest. He kneels down until their foreheads are almost touching.

“You have no idea just what it’s like to be Humanity’s Strongest, _brat_ , so don’t you _dare_ try to lecture me about what I should be doing.”

They stare into each other’s eyes—Levi ferocious, Eren unruffled—until Levi finally kicks Eren aside. He rolls a few times before maneuvering up into a crouch, similar to the position Levi is in.

“I didn’t mean to offend you, sir,” Eren says quietly. “I’m just saying that this is one burden you don’t have to shoulder alone.”

Captain Levi snaps his face towards him, chest still heaving intensely, and Eren meets his glare steadily, expression open and honest. He can see the confusion and astonishment in his eyes, though whether it’s from the words he uttered or the audacity of his disrespect, he’s not sure.

An owl suddenly hoots nearby, and they both start at the sound. Eren utilizes this interruption to take his leave, saluting his Captain before jumping off the roof and heading to bed.

* * *

Since that unexpected conversation up on the rooftop, Eren thinks something has changed in his relationship with Captain Levi. The days pass as usual but during the nights, when they are alone in his room—because, as Eren promised to himself, he would continue to help alleviate Captain Levi’s nightmares so long as it kept working—Captain Levi treats him differently.

The first night after their rooftop encounter, Eren decides to enter his room before he falls asleep to inform the man of his intentions, at least. The Captain doesn’t say anything, just lies there stiffly and flinches away whenever Eren gets too close. Eventually, though, he falls asleep, and Eren takes him into his arms and cradles his head against his chest.

When the morning daylight shines through the window and wakes him up the next day, the man is already gone, and Eren makes the bed before heading downstairs for breakfast.

The days stretch into weeks and Captain Levi’s eyebags have, for the most part, disappeared. He sips his tea with more enjoyment, fusses over the cleanliness of the castle less, and is more tolerant of whatever antics Hange dreams up of. Though, Eren’s not sure if it’s as obvious to the rest of the squad as it is to him; over the course of the time he’s spent with Captain Levi, he thinks that he’s gotten to read his stoic face very well.

Gradually, Captain Levi stops flinching away from Eren and instead relaxes into his embrace before he falls asleep. He starts carding his fingers through Eren’s hair instead of flattening his hands awkwardly against himself. He moves closer to the center of the bed instead of restricting himself to one side.

Eren learns the intent behind each of his shifts and movements and how to adjust his body naturally in response. His purpose there is to comfort the Captain, and that’s what he focuses on. When Captain Levi passes out within minutes of the oil lamp being blown out one night, Eren thinks, for the first time since Trost, that he truly feels something. A glimmer of satisfaction, or perhaps pride. He’s not sure. But this brings him his first genuine smile in months.

The second time this happens, Captain Levi is groaning and jerking in his sleep, and Eren murmurs reassurances in his ear as he tightens his hold and scratches his undercut gently, noting that the fuzzy hairs are surprisingly soft instead of coarse. The man relaxes almost immediately, and his previously tense face smooths out. When he’s like this, Eren can’t help but notice that he looks much younger, much more innocent than what the mask that Humanity’s Strongest dons in the day suggests. He can’t help but wonder what Captain Levi would have been like had they not lived within these Walls, fighting an endless war against humanoid monsters.

Unexpectedly, Captain Levi’s eyelids flutter for a few moments before his eyes open fully. He’s looking at Eren with a strange, soft expression. When Eren realizes that he’s awake, he whispers apologetically, “Sorry for waking you up, Captain.”

Something unreadable passes over the raven-haired man’s face, but before Eren can decipher it it’s gone.

“Levi,” he says.

Eren furrows his brows in confusion. “Hm?”

“Levi,” he reiterates. He brings his hand up to cup Eren’s cheek tentatively, fingers feather-light as they trace his cheekbone gently. “Not Captain. Just Levi.”

“O-oh,” Eren stammers, surprised. He hesitates before trying, “Levi.” It feels foreign, yet there’s something unspeakably precious about it. “Levi,” he repeats, this time with more confidence.

Levi’s lips twitch upward slightly, which Eren recognizes must be his version of a beaming smile. It’s the first time he’s ever seen it. Before he can say anything, however, Levi’s eyelids droop down and soon, he’s fast asleep.

There’s a funny feeling in Eren’s chest. He hasn’t felt something like this, ever. Not even before Trost. For hours, he lies there, tracing his fingers over his heart as though there was something physical that could be touched. He racks his mind to identify just what this is, the question simmering in his brain for a long time.

Just before he loses consciousness, Eren realizes it’s something akin to love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: there’s nothing romantic between Eren and the Captain at this point (it’s too soon, plus the age gap and all); it’s purely platonic, as they can both give something the other needs.


	3. The Female Titan

Eren is reminded of the perks of his involuntary apathy at random times. Now, for example.

Hange’s anguished screams can be heard from even the farthest corners of the castle.

“SONNY! BEAN! NOOOOOOO!” They’re pulling at their hair so hard that some strands have ripped from the ponytail and they collapse to their knees as tears stream down their face. Moblit rushes to their side, offering placating words of comfort that are obviously falling on deaf ears as Hange pounds the ground with their fists.

Other soldiers are murmuring amongst themselves, averting their gazes as though to give Hange the respect of privacy in their most vulnerable moment of grief.

Eren, however, can’t look away.

It’s like watching a carriage crash. Or a particularly horrid play. Perhaps a toddler shitting his pants. Either way, there’s something morbidly interesting about watching a wreck in progress just to see what happens next. A strange curiosity.

He jolts when a hand claps on his shoulder.

“Has Shitty Glasses finally gone off the deep end?” If his sharp voice isn’t enough of a giveaway, his crude nickname for Hange is. Captain Levi is scanning the surrounding area with an analytical eye, understanding washing over him when he sees the steaming leftovers of the two Titans Hange had adopted as their own children.

Not needing an answer, Levi approaches Hange to pull them away from their breakdown and focus on what to do next. As Eren observes the two interact, he thinks that despite being polar opposites, Levi and Hange complement each other quite well. It’s a good thing they can balance one another out. Survey Corps is quite lucky to have them.

Eren is not particularly sad about the death of the two Titans. He only wonders what the implications are. Evidently, there’s a traitor in their midst. Someone who doesn’t want them to uncover the secret of the Titans. While that’s concerning, it’s also good in a way. Clearly, Hange was on the right track with their experiments, so that means mankind is one step closer to understanding why the ugly creatures exist.

He sneezes when he remembers what Hange had concluded a few days ago. Nothing about his biology is out of the ordinary, but his powers clearly are. She hypothesized that the source must be Titan-related. Perhaps during the fall of Shiganshina when he was a child or during the attack on Trost. Either way, his monstrous strength and inhuman speed are comparable to Titans. Hange guessed that because he is still human-sized, however, that power is amplified and condensed into his non-Titan form. They went off on a long explanation and filled a whole blackboard full of complex equations and drawings that Eren had no understanding of. He also had no interest in trying to comprehend their analysis, and instead had let his mind wander off and conjure up images of sweets that his parents used to gift him on holidays back in Shiganshina when he was a child.

Perhaps Sasha had a much bigger impact on him than he thought. He didn’t used to think about food this often before he met her.

Despite the severity of the incident, everyone moves on quickly. All the soldiers apparently had an equipment check—he didn’t participate, given that his gas tanks had been removed early on—and Commander Erwin joined them as they prepared to partake on another expedition with a new batch of recruits.

The mortality rate is concerning, but instead of scaring away his peers, they elect to join him. It brings a tiny spark of warmth when he sees all the familiar faces surrounding him—Mikasa and Armin are especially emotional when they reunite. He’s thankful that they’re too busy clinging to him and asking an endless stream of questions to notice his change in personality.

Hearing the news about Marco’s death, however, makes that more difficult. In his past life, he would have been rooted to the spot, frozen, horror and grief crashing over him as he realized that the freckled boy who was nothing but kind not only died, but died alone with no comrade to ease him into the afterlife. Instead, he only feels a twinge. Whether it be sadness or anger or regret, he’s not sure. He merely mirrors Jean’s somber expression, adopting an appropriate air of stunned silence.

Silence, because he doesn’t know what to say. A friend had been ripped in half by Titans but he can’t bring himself to even cry. It’s concerning, to say the least.

The upcoming expedition, thankfully, distracts everyone. There’s just too much to do in too little time. Between grooming the horses, loading supplies, cleaning the castle, and doing final 3DMG team training, everyone is kept busy from dawn until dusk.

On the day of the expedition, the nervous energy is tangible in the air. Eren thinks he can almost touch it. Taste it. Hearing Petra and Oluo reminisce about how scared they were on their first expedition while Gunther and Eld exchange amused glances makes Eren smile. After the spoon incident, the squad had apologized and made up for their lack of trust with increased affection and humor. It’s nice to know that the people he’ll be stationed with for the foreseeable future can treat him like a normal human.

And they’re off. Erwin had introduced a system involving different colored signals to communicate across the formation. Truthfully, Eren wasn’t paying much attention, knowing that being in the Special Operations Squad he was unlikely to be delegated such a task. But he can still appreciate its ingenuity.

It’s confusing, however. He doesn’t understand what’s going on on the field, only that something seems to be amiss. However, Captain Levi plows on, and they enter the forest.

When he turns around and sees a huge Female Titan chasing after them as Survey Corps soldiers are swatted away like irksome flies, his mouth drops.

“Captain Levi!” He exclaims. People are dying, people are dying, why are they still going? They need to stop and help!

The raven-haired man doesn’t answer, and faintly he hears someone snap that they have their assignment and they need to stick to the plan.

_What plan?_ Eren wonders, completely at a loss. It’s clear that whatever plan they had has gone to shit with the huge-ass, seemingly Intelligent Titan catching up behind them.

When he lifts one of his feet up to the saddle in preparation to jump off the horse and face the Titan behind him, Petra shouts at him.

“Trust us, Eren!” Her caramel eyes are alight with an intense fervor.

Eren hesitates, flicking his eyes to the rest of the Squad, who are all looking at him earnestly.

They’re his team. He should trust them.

But, the Female Titan. Eren glances back again as another soldier is thrown against the tree, quickly becoming only a splatter of blood.

Despite not looking back, Captain Levi senses his conflicting indecision. “Eren,” he says, summoning a deep breath. “The difference between your decision and ours is experience. But you don't have to rely on that. Choose…believe in yourself, or believe in the Survey Corps and me.”

An image of Furlan and Isabel pop into his mind, and Levi squeezes his eyes shut momentarily to cast away the image. He forces himself to open his eyes and soldier on. “I don't know...I never have. I can believe in my own abilities or the choices of the companions I trust. But no one ever knows how it will turn out.”

Isabel, beheaded. Furlan, bisected. Blood, blood, blood, everywhere. His dearest companions nothing more than mutilated corpses. He knows there’s so much at stake, especially for Eren, who is still an innocent lamb in the grand scheme of things. A child, forced to grow up too quickly, but still not equipped with the tools needed to deal with the grief and tragedy that is occurring right at the moment.

Levi raises his voice, hoping his words will inspire confidence in the young boy behind him. “So choose for yourself, whichever decision you will regret the least.”

By the end of that sentence, he’s almost shouting. For Levi, that’s basically screaming at the top of his lungs. He turns around to make eye contact with Eren and reassure him of his belief in his words.

Eren’s not there.

There’s just an empty saddle.

Nobody in his squad is making eye contact with him, averting their gazes as though embarrassed. What do they have to be embarrassed of? It’s not the first time he’s had to make such a speech before. Much as he hates getting into feelings and motivation and all this sentimental shit, his role as the Captain is to take care of the squad, which includes inspiring them in these moments of uncertainty.

The realization clicks in suddenly. He grits his teeth. “When did he leave?” Captain Levi demands.

There’s an awkward silence before Oluo bravely speaks up. “Erm…right when you started talking sir. I believe…after you said ‘Eren’.”

Captain Levi hisses in annoyance as he turns his horse around abruptly, his squad copying immediately like the well-oiled machine they are.

He can’t believe he’s this stupid. He should’ve noticed right when the loud footsteps stopped rumbling behind them. He was too caught up in the shitty speech that shitty Eren didn’t even shittily listen to. Shit.

The Female Titan comes into view a few seconds later, just in time for them to see her fist harden into…a crystalline structure. They’ve never seen anything like this before.

Before they know it, however, her arm has been ripped off and lands on the ground behind her. Her blue eyes are wide with shock, head snapping around to find the enemy.

She’s too late. Eren flashes into existence and, with an almighty kick, beheads the Titan. Her body, stunned, collapses on the ground in a steaming heap.

There’s a sudden gust of wind as a small figure zips up from the carcass into the trees above.

“Oh no you don’t!” Levi shoots the grappling hooks into the trees as he chases after the figure. He can hear his squad following him, movements well-practiced but still not fast enough to keep up with him.

The figure has a green cloak on, the hood covering their face. The sight of the Wings of Freedom enrages Levi as he recalls the images of his fallen comrades who were murdered by this piece of shit. It spurs him on as he launches himself towards the target.

They dodge and attempt to go back down, towards the forest floor, but it’s too late. Levi cuts off their escape route and slashes in a furious spin, forcing the person to fall backwards to avoid being sliced up.

In that moment, the rest of the squad attack, Petra and Oluo using their wires to intersect with the enemy’s, tangling them together as Eld and Gunter tackle the figure to the ground, using their weight to immobilize them.

Before the person can struggle and try to transform again, Levi’s swords are at their throat, and they freeze.

“Tch,” Levi presses the blade closer. “Don’t even think about it. Move one finger and I’ll cut your head off. Now…” Levi moves one sword towards the hood. “Let’s see who it is that’s been giving us so much trouble.”

With a nudge, the hood falls off.

It’s a blonde girl. Her ice blue eyes are glaring up at Levi in pure hatred. She looks vaguely, very vaguely, familiar. He’s sure he’s seen her at some point.

“Annie?!”

Everyone’s attention snaps towards the voice. It’s Eren, who just landed behind Levi, and is taking slow steps towards them.

“Do you know her, brat?” Levi asks.

Eren’s eyes are wide with shock. “That’s…that’s Annie. Annie Leonhart. She’s…she’s in my class. We graduated together. But she joined the Military Police. How…why…”

There’s no answer, of course. Annie refuses to look at Eren, instead gritting her teeth and clenching her jaw.

“Well, that’s what we’re going to find out soon,” Levi says. “Tie her up!” He orders. “Make sure she can’t move or try to transform.”

“Sir, yes sir!” His squad replies, moving into action quickly.

Keeping an eye on their progress, Levi turns to Eren. “You ok, brat?”

Eren is staring at Annie, his mouth still hanging open. He closes it quickly, shutting his eyes and shaking his head abruptly as though to get rid of unpleasant thoughts before reopening them. “I’m…I’m fine. Just…surprised.”

“Well, you aren’t the only one. A traitor in the Military Police who infiltrated the Scouts? The officials are going to have a field day.”

“…Yeah…” Eren swallows, unable to turn his gaze away from Annie, who has been tied up by the rest of the team. She’s calm for a prisoner, but her clenching fists give away her unease.

Something catches Eren’s eye and he surges forward, grasping her fist in his. Annie snaps her eyes back to glare at him, and they stare at each other. For a moment, nobody moves.

Then, Eren rips his hand away, opening up his palm to reveal a ring with a pointed, sharp spike.

“Give it back!” Annie is panicking now, squirming and fighting against the restraints to no avail.

“Oho,” Levi plucks the ring from Eren’s grasp to look at it more closely. “Nice catch, brat. She thought she could transform on us? Tough luck.” He tucks the ring into his pocket, ignoring Annie’s desperate and angry shouts.

Levi casts her an unimpressed look. “Time to go back and report in. Move out, team.”

“Sir, yes sir!”

* * *

The brick is uncomfortable against his back, digging into his shoulder, but Eren couldn’t care less. He’s been here for at least three hours, just lying flat on the rooftop, staring blankly up at the indigo night sky.

He’s in a daze.

He doesn’t know what to do.

He doesn’t know how he’s supposed to react.

Annie Leonhart. The petite blonde had always been standoff-ish, the one ice-blue eye that was visible flinty as she observed their antics—Sasha stealing food, Eren and Jean trying to punch each other out, Mikasa reigning him in—with a cold boredom. The only time Eren had ever witnessed her show any emotion was when Reiner goaded her into fighting and she taught Eren her signature moves.

Reiner Braun. After Annie had been taken into custody, she somehow crystallized and was currently locked in an underground facility where she was guarded over 24/7. Commander Smith then gathered the Special Operations Squad, along with a few other trusted officers into the meeting room. Eren was surprised to see that Armin and Mikasa had been included, but soon that surprise was completely overshadowed by what Armin had deduced.

Bertholdt Hoover. Reiner Braun. Annie Leonhart. Traitors against humanity. Cold-blooded killers. Likely directly responsible for Marco’s death. For his mother’s death. For the thousands that had perished at Shiganshina, the thousands more that had been sent to die after the inner cities were overwhelmed by the refugee population—including Armin’s grandfather—and the countless brave Scouts that had been murdered in the expeditions since the fall of Wall Maria. Including the most recent one.

What had Annie been thinking as she watched Sasha offer to split “half” a potato with Shadis? Was it the same frame of mind she had as she smashed soldier after soldier against the trees and under her feet and watched them turn from breathing, living humans with families and dreams and aspirations into puddles of blood and flesh?

What had Reiner and Bertholdt been thinking as they went through 3 years of training together, as others looked up to them as brotherly figures and joked that Bertholdt’s erratic sleeping positions were a form of weather prediction? Was it the same frame of mind they had when they broke down the only protection the people of Paradis had against the monstrous beasts outside and watched as families were ripped apart and people were violently killed in front of their loved ones, feeling only fear and anguish and horror in their very last moments?

The overwhelming, almost savage emotions of betrayal and anger and confusion were at war with the equally strong apathy that had taken hold of his inner mind since the Battle of Trost. Together, they formed a powerful synergy of utter helplessness that Eren could not break away from.

He could feel his breathing accelerate as he struggled to get air in, his chest suddenly feel tight and it _hurt,_ he hasn’t felt hurt since Trost and now he’s _scared,_ and he can’t see the night sky or moon or stars anymore because his eyes are shut tight and he’s curled into a ball and he doesn’t know if he can do this anymore and—

Warmth. His scattered mind can only register what’s happening in bits and pieces. He is enveloped in a comforting embrace, his own hands still clutched in a death grip around the front of his shirt, but his eyes are open now, vision blurry but slowly becoming more clear as the seconds pass.

“Breathe with me,” the deep voice whispering into his ear is unmistakable, but he’s too panicked to feel shocked that Captain Levi is holding him right now so he numbly follows, shakily ingesting air and pushing it out along with the Capta—no, Levi—and little by little his shoulders relax and his body becomes pliant against Levi, allowing him to rest his head on the man’s shoulder and unclench his hands so he can wrap them around Levi’s back and return the embrace. The whimpers and gasps that he didn’t even realize were coming from him until then gradually abate.

Now he knows why his presence is effective in staving off nightmares for Levi. The warmth and thudding heartbeat of another human pressed so close against his own body fulfills a primal need for comfort and safety, and he closes his eyes as he tightens his hold, molding them into one.

Minutes pass, and despite the cold of the nighttime wind and discomfort of crouching in such a position for so long, Levi doesn’t pull away. He lets Eren use him to recover for as long as he needs, and this makes Eren’s heart stutter.

He hasn’t felt so many feelings in one night since before Trost. He has mixed views about this sudden resurgence—on one hand, it replenished his confidence in his humanity, but on the other hand, this pain and anguish…fucking sucks. There’s no other way to put it.

Regardless, he nuzzles his head deeper against Levi and sighs in contentment. He can’t remember the last time someone hugged him like this. Like he was someone to be cherished and protected and had nothing to fear, as long as these arms were around him.

Involuntary tears start to slip down his cheeks. His mother. That’s who he’s reminded of in this moment. And that inexplicably triggers a break in the metaphoric dam that had blocked his tear ducts since his powers manifested, because tears are gushing down and he couldn’t stop them even if he wanted to, and he’s sobbing. The weight of everything that had happened to him since Trost, since _Shiganshina,_ seems to have dropped onto him in that moment, and he’s almost choking from how hard his body is racked by the shuddering tremors and sobs.

Wordlessly, Levi somehow understands, and he rubs soothing circles into his back just like Eren had done for him, each revolution of his hand like a magnet pulling out the negative energy from Eren’s body, and soon, Eren has calmed down into occasional sniffles. So exhausted from the expended emotional and physical effort of the breakdown, Eren can feel himself slipping into unconsciousness.

Levi nudges Eren’s face from the crook of his shoulder and wipes away the remaining tracks of his tears using the thumb from the one hand cupping his cheek, the other still patting Eren’s back. Eren’s eyes are half open and glassy at this point, but he can see the gentle softness on the man’s face, in his silver-blue eyes. Though subtle and perhaps unrecognizable to others who aren’t literate in Levi’s expressions, to Eren it speaks loudly, and it crashes over him in a wave of poignancy that pushes him over the edge into sleep.

The last thing he remembers before he blacks out is being carried in Levi’s arms in a princess hold, his lips curved in a content smile as he rested his face against his chest.

Secure.

Sheltered.

Safe.

* * *

When he comes to, the sunlight is shining through the window, causing him to squint as he surveys his surroundings. He’s in Levi’s room, nestled deeply in the cushiony blankets on the bed, but the man is nowhere to be seen.

He forces himself to get up, cracking his neck and groaning as he rubbed his crusty eyes, which stung with a pain that he’s only experienced a couple of times in his life from lengthy crying sessions.

He smiles, though, because he hasn’t felt pain in a long time, so this discomfort actually brings him some happiness, which has also been a stranger for too many months. Granted, it’s a far cry from what he remembers feeling pre-Trost, but even these subtle emotions reassure him that he’s on the right path towards recovering the essential aspects that make him human.

His clothes are conveniently folded and located on the desk next to the door, and he silently thanks Levi as he quickly changes and heads downstairs to the communal bathroom to get ready. Though Levi has a private bathroom, Eren’s still too intimidated to even peek inside, given the man’s infamous penchant for cleanliness. He can’t see him being too happy about another person shitting in his toilet or even just touching his sink.

By the time he makes his way into the dining area, breakfast is already over, but there’s a still-warm bowl of grains topped with berries picked from the forest saved for him, which he efficiently wolfs down before washing the dishes and heading out to join the others.

As expected, Oluo attempts to give him a tongue-lashing for waking up late, but bites his own tongue in the process, and Petra tuts while Eld and Gunther shake their heads in amusement. Levi is nowhere to be seen, but apparently had already instructed the squad on their duties for the day, which consists of cleaning the castle and mucking the stables.

Despite being the Special Operations Squad, they still receive their fair share of maintenance duties, something Eren hears Oluo complain about from time to time but feels grateful for, since it makes him feel normal. Less of a freak. Besides, his powers appear to include unlimited stamina, so he’s not even tired by the time they’re done.

They head to the communal showers to bathe and get ready for dinner, which turns out to be potatoes, corn, and biscuits, somewhat of a feast compared to their normal rations. It’s likely to boost morale for their next mission, which is to go to Shiganshina. Specifically, Grisha Jaeger’s basement.

The revelation of Annie as the Female Titan and the concept of humans exhibiting Titan power triggered a previously inaccessible memory from the recesses of Eren’s brain. The key. The basement. He dutifully communicated all he could grasp from the snippets he recalls to Erwin, Hange, and Levi, and they determined that, with Annie being crystallized and Reiner and Bertholdt’s involvement still unclear, their best bet is to follow this clue.

That’s what the meeting after dinner is dedicated to discussing. Only the ones who were present during the previous gathering, when Armin shared his hypothesis, are invited, and Eren takes a seat next to his childhood best friends as everyone trickled in and settled down.

Commander Erwin tells them the details of the upcoming mission, and nobody is surprised until he announces that Levi and the Special Operations Squad—minus Eren—will be remaining in Stohess.

“Why?” Levi demands testily, eyes narrowed at Erwin.

“As I mentioned, Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover’s involvement in this entire scheme is unclear. We are the only ones who know of their treachery, so if all our major forces travel to Shiganshina, it is entirely possible that these two will attack Stohess and attempt to retrieve Annie Leonhart—and whatever Leonhart was after in the first place—during our absence. She must have joined the Military Police for a reason, for if she were simply after Eren she could have enlisted in the Scouts. Therefore, we must conclude that there is something—some weapon—that the three are after that requires a search. Otherwise, they would not have split up.”

His explanation was fool-proof, as expected from the brilliant Commander, but Eren could see that Levi was disgruntled. He himself was also disappointed and a little wary that the most powerful squad, the people whose abilities he placed the most faith in, would not be accompanying him into the Titan-infested Shiganshina territory.

“Of course, getting to Shiganshina will not be an easy journey. It will be done in different stages. We will first go to Wall Rose, and stake out the area before proceeding.” Erwin turned to Levi and the rest of his team. “I trust you to play it by ear. We will have messengers ready in case they attack Stohess instead.”

He waited until Levi gave a stiff jerk of his head before continuing.

“We don’t know what we are up against. So I advise you all to remember: proceed with caution.”

With that, they were dismissed.

* * *

Levi is saddling up his horse when he senses someone standing behind him. It’s Eren, who is hovering hesitantly and shuffling back and forth, jittery.

“Did you need to take a shit, brat?” Levi sighs, turning around to cast him a bored glance.

“Er, no Captain.” Eren knows, without Levi’s instructions, that their first-name basis is restricted to their moments of companionship, in private. In front of the squad, Levi’s still his Captain. “I just…wanted to thank you. For last night.” He twiddles his fingers nervously, uncertain about how to thoroughly communicate his appreciation. And his worries about the upcoming expedition and their separation. “And for taking care of me all this time. I know it can’t have been easy…” He scratches his neck, feeling awkward.

Captain Levi pats down the saddle, brushing the worn leather, back turned to Eren, before speaking. “Tch. It’s my job, brat. Is that all?”

Eren flinches, not expecting the sharp dismissal. “Um, yeah. I—I guess.” He brings his arm up in a salute. “Good luck with your mission, Captain. I’ll…I’ll see you soon.” It’s a promise he should not make, for he has no way to guarantee it. But still, he’s stubborn. He hopes.

The Captain climbs onto the horse, holding the reins in both hands before looking down. Their gazes meet, and for a few seconds, neither move nor speak. He finally breaks the silence as he turns forward and jostles the horse to start moving, the rest of the squad mirroring his actions, before he says over his shoulder.

“Stay safe, Eren.”

* * *

There’s a hollow feeling in his chest as he trots forward on the horse, surrounded by the rest of the expedition personnel. The journey from here to Wall Rose will take several hours, and Commander Erwin had one squad, led by Mike, to scout ahead and clear the path.

To draw out the traitors, Erwin intentionally had the rest of the 104th included in that small group.

Traitors.

Eren still can’t wrap his mind around the fact that three of his fellow trainees are enemies of humanity. Though Reiner and Bertholdt’s involvement were conjecture, based on Armin’s analysis of the limited information available, Eren knows deep in his heart that it is the truth. The missing pieces of this puzzle section. There are still too many more unknowns, but hopefully the basement will unlock those secrets.

The basement.

It’s been five long years since he’s been in Shiganshina. He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to perform his duty, surrounded by the gaunt reminders of the massacre that occurred there. The broken homes, collapsed rooftops, corpses still trapped under rubble. Will he hear the screams and cries of his townsman? Will he relive his mother’s last words to him before the Titan snapped her spine in half?

“Eren.” Mikasa’s voice snaps him out of his stupor. “Don’t worry. This time, we’re prepared. We have backup. We’re soldiers. We can fight back.”

Fight.

Eren straightens up. She’s right. They’re no longer the 10 year old children who could only helplessly watch, unable to do more than run away. He draws out a portion of the steel blade at his side, the cold metal bringing him a grounding comfort. The other hand curls into a tight fist.

Fight back. This time, they will win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried my best to illustrate how Eren's emotional state fluctuates, partially because I want to incorporate components of Saitama's personality while staying true to Eren's canon character. It's hard because they're complete opposites and OPM is very humor-driven whereas SnK is angst on steroids, but hopefully it didn't seem to unbelievable. Crack fics are wack, what can I say.


	4. The Clash of the Titans

Eren hears screams of horror when he is slammed back by the huge fist, right into the broken castle walls. His ears ring as he watches a gust of steam explode over the top of the Wall, burning the soldiers, who are desperately clinging onto the bricks to avoid being blown off.

As a roar of victory sounds over the battle-worn landscape, he can’t help but wonder. _How did this happen?_

* * *

It started with the supposed breach in Wall Rose. Supposed, because it’s unclear what exactly happened. Titans aren’t flooding in from a hole in the wall, yet there are countless humanoid monsters roaming the area.

By the time Commander Erwin and the rest of the expedition get there, they find out that there was another Titan in their midst.

Ymir.

The brunette girl, who was always callous and uncaring towards everyone except for Christa, transformed into a Titan to save them at Utgard Castle. She was cut out of the Titan, her body grievously injured, but still alive.

It’s reported that Nanaba and Mike, amongst many more, have died, the former’s death witnessed by multiple soldiers and the latter hypothesized to be equally gruesome given the leftover body parts that are discovered in the mouth of one Titan. No one else in the Corps has that large of a shoe. It was custom made, the laces replaced with a reinforced kind that Mike preferred. That was the only reason they knew.

However, no one has a clue how exactly the second strongest man in the Scouting Legion died after being last seen mowing down Titan after Titan. They grieve all the same, though in the back of their minds after a moment of silence. They are used to facing casualties and having to compartmentalize in the midst of battle.

And, of course, because something more urgent has captured their attention.

“I’m the Armored Titan and he’s the Colossal Titan.”

“…”

Eren isn’t sure how to react. Should he act shocked? Appalled? Laugh it off as a joke? He settles for a good ol’ “Huh?”, blinking at them. “I didn’t hear what you said, can you say it again?”

Reiner is clutching his fist, letting the blood run from the scratches on his wound, body trembling as Bertholdt gapes at him in profound horror.

It’s a big revelation, but Eren is more surprised by the manner in which they decided to oust themselves. No sneaky plot as they run away with whatever secret treasure they’re after? No attempts to place the blame on an unsuspecting comrade?

Suffice to say, this is very sus.

“I’m the Armored Titan and he’s the Colossal Titan!” Reiner declares again, his jaw clenched as emotion ripples through his body. He goes off on an impassioned speech, the context of which Eren is clearly missing. It’s not a problem because, quite frankly, Eren stopped paying attention after he started talking and instead opts to observe Bertholdt’s face, which transitions through many degrees of panic, distress, confusion, and more. Normally he is meek and quiet, and now Eren is seeing his true expressions up close. It’s rather interesting. Clearly this was not planned, and Eren wonders if he should give the two of them a moment of privacy to sort out the miscommunication, much like a timeout during a sports match.

Oh, he’s done talking. Reiner is healing his wounds, there are sparks of yellow electricity bursting around them, and Mikasa surges forth to cut them down.

Ouch. He’s really glad that he’s not on Mikasa’s bad side, because that is a gory sight. Yuck. Bertholdt chokes as he clutches his sliced-open throat, but Reiner stops Mikasa from inflicting further damage.

Oh, they’re moving now. Boom. Transformed. Yup, they were telling the truth. Now that they’re in their Titan forms, Eren is annoyed that he didn’t see the resemblance earlier.

Damn, Bertholdt is tall. And hot. Not in _that_ way. He’s physically hot and steaming and it’s actually kind of causing issues. He grabs Ymir and Eren hears Christa cry out, “no!” from behind him.

Eren also hears others call out, telling him to run, but that’s kind of hard when Bertholdt is releasing gas everywhere and necessitating him to cling onto the rock of the wall to not get blown away.

Oh, Reiner is grabbing him in his fist. How nice.

Wait, wait, no! His cloak! It’s tearing, and seeing Eren struggle, Reiner tightens his grip instead of loosening. The _rip_ sound of his beautiful green cloak is loud and horrific and Eren can only gawk at his once pristine Wings of Freedom, now split in the middle.

“You bastards!” Eren snarls, launching himself from Reiner’s clutch with ease and slamming his fist into Reiner’s dumb armored face.

The head is blown off from the chin and up, and the Armored Titan falls backward down, down, down, crashing into the decrepit buildings below, the ensuing dust storm from the debris shielding him from view.

Eren lets gravity take him down as well, ignoring the possibility that he may end up a stain on the ground. He’s somehow confident that this is a complementary part of his deluxe magical power package that he never ordered but isn’t planning on returning—not being bound to the laws of physics like other mortals are.

He lands next to the injured Reiner, whose limbs are convulsing but head slowly reforming. Before he can make the killing blow, however, he sees something that makes him halt in horror.

The Smiling Titan.

Underneath Reiner.

Smushed.

Unmoving.

In his stupor, he fails to notice that Reiner has recovered and rushes forth in an almighty kick that sends Eren flying backwards hundreds of feet, crashing into the remnants of Utgard Castle. Screams fill the air and from the top of Wall Rose, Bertholdt releases a gush of steam, overcoming the soldiers who are now forced to curl against the bricks and hang on for dear life.

Reiner lets out a roar of victory so loud that it can be heard from miles away, but Eren isn’t paying attention.

He’s still looking at the unmoving body of the Smiling Titan from afar, just a small figure from this distance.

He’s still staring, even as Reiner comes closer, closer, closer and picks him up, flinging him to the other side of the battlefield now, except this time, he’s following up with more punches and kicks.

Eren is hit—up, right, left, diagonally, down, forward, backward—in the flurry of attacks that even for Reiner, is overboard. Building after building is smashed to pieces from how hard Eren is thrown against them, but still, Reiner doesn’t stop. Each time, he picks up the immobile form of his former friend and hurls him further, harder.

Once.

Twice.

Ten times.

Twenty times.

The cacophony of screams and cries don’t reach Eren’s ear, similar to how he is unaware of the strikes to his body, which by all means should have disintegrated into broken pieces from the damage.

Another slam results in him flying backward into a pile of broken bricks and rubble, landing on his back, causing the continued wails of horror and grief from the Wall to increase in volume.

He looks up at the blue sky, white clouds drifting across the horizon, deaf to the carnage in his daze, limbs still not functioning.

_Dammit._

Reiner stomps forward, step by step, as he gets ready for the killing blow.

_I may have made a horrible mistake._

The Armored Titan is now getting ready to break into a run, one foot sliding back to get a solid stance that will provide him the necessary momentum.

_It’s all over._

Reiner is sprinting now, causing the Earth to shake and rumble every time his foot beats against the ground.

“NOOOO!”

With an almighty punch, Eren jumps up and sends Reiner flying—up, up, up, so powerful the strike is, the Armored Titan is bisected in mid-air and disappears over Wall Maria, miles away, top-half landing somewhere in the Outside, away from view, bottom-half split into crushed pieces that splat against the buildings near the broken entrance created 5 years ago. The resulting wind from his attack rips through the area, causing Eren to hide his face in his elbow temporarily to avoid getting sand in his eye.

Eren pants, breathing heavily, chest heaving. He can feel himself quaking. He promised—swore—that he would get revenge for his mother, his sweet sweet mother who told Hannes to take him away and let herself be eaten, whose last moments were filled with pain and helplessness, whose last view was not of her son but of this monster that snapped her in half and ate her whole.

He was supposed to be the one to deliver death to this Devil on Earth.

Instead…

He collapses to his knees. Head bowed, body trembling.

“Nothing changed!” He howls. “You haven’t changed one bit, dammit!”

He’s laughing now, tears streaming. “You’re still as useless as you ever were! Nothing changed!”

He pounds the ground repeatedly, teeth gritting, furious. How—why did this happen? Why did this happen every single time? A wrong move, a misstep, and everything comes crashing down. Even if it would be the last thing he ever did, he wanted to take out the Smiling Titan that ruined his life, his family, his purpose for living.

But it’s too late.

He feels a hand on his shoulder, and he looks up, cheeks still wet.

It’s Mikasa, who is beaming at him with a mixture of relief, surprise, and amazement, eyes teary, clutching her signature red scarf.

“You did it, Eren!”

What?

“You don’t understand!” Mikasa’s brows furrow in confusion. “I failed—I _failed._ I promised to kill the Smiling Titan but…Reiner got there before I did. Now, I can never avenge our mother.”

Mikasa blinks, cocking her head to one side. She points, directing his attention towards their left.

“You mean that Titan?”

Eren eyes widen in shock when he sees the Smiling Titan, steam dissipating as it stands upright, fully healed, in the same spot where he saw it last.

“No way!” Eren leaps up, gleeful, leaving Mikasa behind in a cloud of dust and an even larger metaphorical cloud of utter bemusement as he speeds inhumanly fast towards the Titan. Stopping when he’s in front of it—her, it looks like a her, if the social construct of gender applies to Titans.

The Smiling Titan grins wider as she leans forth, hand reaching out—Eren grips her finger, the tough Titan skin rubbing against his palm, ready to _annihilate_ this monster when he suddenly feels a hot rush of steam against his back. Head turning—first Reiner, now the damn Colossal Titan trying to intervene between his life’s ultimate goal? Hell. No.

“Get the fuck away from me!” Eren snarls, a flash of lightning suddenly jolting through him, connecting him to something, many things, everything—too fast to comprehend, but he ignores that in favor of snapping back towards the Smiling Titan and smashing her stomach with an almighty punch. So hard that she liquifies and the blood is blown in a gust of wind powerful enough to completely raze the surrounding buildings within a 100-feet radius into mere particles.

He’s surrounded by dust, flattened ground, a crater where the Smiling Titan once stood, and then, he notices.

Titans.

Pouring in from the entire area, congregating around him.

Except, no, not him. They’re climbing onto Bertholdt, biting his leg, foot, hand, uncaring of their skin being burned or limbs being severed as the Colossal Titan swings left and right to get the Titans off—failing, as the Titans surge upward in a swarm. One replacing another, unending.

The Colossal Titan falls backward, brought down by the collective weight of all the Titans clinging onto him despite his efforts to get rid of them, despite the unrelenting steam he’s producing to burn them.

Eren watches, the fire that had roared within him suddenly extinguished, replaced with the familiar apathy and calm.

Thankfully, his comrades are still focused on the mission, and Mikasa, Armin, Moblit, and Hange reach the struggling enemy at the same time using their 3DMG, cutting Bertholdt out of the nape—Mikasa also slicing off his legs from the knees down for good measure (again, Eren is glad that she’s on his side, because _ow_ and _yikes_ )—and binding him with ropes so that he can no longer move. Gagging him so he can’t bite his tongue and transform again. Extracting Ymir and rushing her off to nearby medics.

Needing an injury to trigger transformation was a theory that Hange had developed in isolation when experimenting with Sonny and Bean and considering hypothetical human-titan hybrids, further validated by Annie when Eren had taken away her spiked ring, and categorically confirmed by Ymir when she slashed her palm open with a knife to shift.

Eren personally doesn’t care, not paying attention, observing the events passively. Following his team’s climb up the wall with a simple jump, feeling the cloak fly behind him and—

Oh, right.

He needs a new cloak. Reiner—the bastard—ruined this one.

Watching Commander Erwin call the remaining soldiers to attention and give out orders for cleaning up and returning to HQ, however, Eren decides that that can wait.

Jolted by the jubilant cheers—he missed Erwin’s praise, declaration of victory, apparently—Eren finds himself being lifted up by his friends, rising until the group of soldiers come together in an impromptu action to let him crowd surf. He floats, moving via the hands on his back and legs and arms that keep him face-up towards the sky—Jean, you damned pervert, stop copping a feel—and a mild warmth surges through him, dampening his numbing indifference.

Looking at the endless blue, reminiscent of what he imagines the ocean Armin had spoken so zealously about to be, Eren allows himself a small smile and closes his eyes.

* * *

Apparently there is some significance to what Eren did in those last moments on the battlefield. In his desire to tell Bertholdt to _get out of the fucking way_ , he somehow commanded all nearby Titans to do his bidding.

That, Commander Erwin deduces, must be what trio—Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt, also referred to as the enemies or spies or traitors—are after.

His deduction is confirmed by Bertholdt, who doesn’t need any torture to loosen his tongue, because verbal threats of torturous consequences on Annie are enough. Which is great, because truthfully nobody has any idea about how to actually do that without risking the shifter transforming, let alone break the crystal that Annie is hibernating in.

Of course, that’s thanks to Armin, whose observant nature allowed him to aptly extrapolate Bertholdt’s feelings for Annie and leverage this information in their favor.

When Eren asks why he had paid such close attention to Annie and Bertholdt’s interactions, though, Armin squeakily turns tomato-red and hastily asks Sasha what she thinks is for dinner, which of course ends their conversation right then and there because when it comes to food, Sasha is frightfully and single-mindedly aggressive. As she passionately professes her hope that today’s victory will result in meat as a reward, Armin silently slips away and disappears.

Eren is rightfully suspicious.

Fortunately for Armin, there are other events that distract Eren from this. Unfortunately for Armin, that distraction comes in the form of the revelation of Christa as Historia, the murder of Minister Nick, the political upheaval simmering in the background, and the resulting plan that necessitates Armin to pretend to be Historia and become in touch with his feminine side.

(He’ll realize later, to his horror, that there are consequences even he did not foresee to this role. Sorry Armin. Maybe the Survey Corps can pay for your therapy later?)

But first, back to the power. The Founding Titan, is what Bertholdt called it. The ability to control all Titans with the exception of shifters.

It’s a game changer, to say the least, but unfortunately Eren has been unable to replicate the previous feat no matter how loudly he hollers at the Titans. If anything, his yelling just seems to aggravate the mindless Titans even more, which runs completely against the original purpose of the effort.

Despite this snafu, though, Commander Erwin is not disappointed in the least. In fact, he’s further emboldened in the belief that the basement must carry all the answers to universe and becomes doubly invested in leading the mission.

But, as luck would have it, there are other priorities at hand. Eren and Historia are ushered off to a far-away farm while the Scouts leadership figures out the next best move. In the meantime, Eren spends his day laboring—mopping the floor, harvesting grain, and washing the dishes. It’s not exactly a relaxing vacation, per se, but Eren knows that this is as close as it’s going to get while Humanity is trapped within the Walls.

Plus, he has his friends by his side. Unexpectedly, the Special Operations Squad is expanded—Connie, Sasha, Mikasa, Armin, and Jean are added to the roster. They’re split in two, though, as the veteran members are stationed elsewhere to watch over Ymir. With her being a wild card, Commander Erwin thought it best to separate her from Historia and Eren, at least until they can confirm her loyalties. This means Captain Levi has the pleasure of traveling back and forth between the two locations to stay in the loop, though his main assignment is to train the new members of the squad to get them up to speed. Hange, to their delight, gets to work with Ymir on testing her shifting powers and fulfilling all of their greatest fantasies.

Needless to say, Captain Levi prefers to stay with the snot-nosed brats and let Eld shoulder most of the responsibility in working with Hange. He doesn’t go unless it’s absolutely necessary—meaning when their cleaning supplies or his personal stash of teas are running dangerously low.

To Eren’s surprise, he is now the best cleaner on the team. Jean did such an awful job his first time that Levi punished him with a week of mucking the stables all by himself and wouldn’t stop cursing as he attacked the dust that Jean missed. His glare was so vicious that Jean nearly pissed his pants on the spot.

Eren is certain that Mikasa could take this title if she wished, but there’s some unnamed tension between her and Captain Levi. Mikasa once referred to him as “that shorty” and Sasha and Connie were so horrified their faces turned ashen as they hurriedly looked around to make sure said man was not nearby. Mikasa, on the other hand, merely shrugged and continued to clean just enough to be considered “adequate” by Levi, but not more.

He once asked Armin why that was, to which his blonde friend replied, “Isn’t it obvious? Because he’s the one tasked with killing you if the higher ups decide you’re too much trouble to keep around.”

Hm. Interesting. He always knew about Mikasa’s protectiveness, but is rather surprised that that translates to a vehement dislike of Captain Levi, who has only helped, rather than harmed, him. Before he can continue on to discuss how to approach Mikasa about this topic, however, Armin interrupts.

“Speaking of, we—Mikasa and I—have been wondering…are you ok?”

“Huh?” Eren is nonplussed.

Armin hesitates for a moment before taking a deep breath and speaking. “You’ve…changed. You don’t fight with Jean anymore, which is great, but you also don’t…engage with us. Not that you’re avoiding conversation, but it’s just…when we talk to you it doesn’t feel like you’re…there. Like the old Eren is missing.” He’s looking at him closely, and Eren blinks.

He knows what Armin is talking about. The mute apathy, the distant indifference. The detachment. But what can he say? He’s as lost as Armin is on the topic. With the upcoming missions, the uncertainty about Reiner and further enemies from outside the Walls, his passiveness should be the least of everyone’s worries.

So, instead of confirming Armin’s worries, he adopts a smile. “I’ve grown up,” he says simply, before walking away and leaving Armin to gaze after him, chewing his lip in thoughtful concern.

* * *

It’s getting worse.

Now, beyond the indifference, it’s like he spaces out unconsciously and when he realizes it, there’s only a flash of understanding. He’s finding it difficult to focus because everything feels…unimportant. Even if he objectively knows that that’s not true.

After a few incidents where Eren’s absent mindedness resulted in missed instructions and unfulfilled tasks, Captain Levi takes it upon himself to resolve the issue. Sparring doesn’t do much, even if it’s with Humanity’s Strongest, because Eren’s powers make every fight feel uninteresting. Cleaning helps, but even after mopping and dusting their quarters from head to toe, he’s left with too much time on his hands. Studying…yeah, no. If Eren can’t pay attention during a conversation, how can anyone expect him to sit down and read for hours?

Unexpectedly, the best solution comes in the form of Sasha’s favorite: food. Cooking, as it stands, presents a challenge that reinvigorates Eren’s mind. Finding the perfect balance of flavors and textures that satisfies everyone’s palette while also making use of the limited ingredients that can be found in their military rations is difficult yet rather exciting. While there were a few issues at the beginning as Eren’s culinary experiments resulted in nearly inedible slop, through trial and error he’s started to grasp the technique and strategies behind cooking. This process has also allowed him to reconnect with his peers in a subtle but still invaluable way.

Sasha, of course, will eat basically anything and everything, but she has a particular love for richly flavored entrees. Adding some parsley or rosemary from the forest will usually do the trick. If there’s meat, not much needs to be done, because she will actually eat it raw if it comes down to that.

Connie is not picky, but needs a lot of food to feel full. Carb-heavy foods like bread and potatoes are his regular staple.

Jean, despite his abrasive critiques no matter what Eren serves, will reel back his jackassery when there’s any form of omelette on the menu.

Historia praises whatever meal he creates, but seems to favor those that are sweetened with honey or fruits and berries.

Armin never states his preferences, but will sometimes help Eren by suggesting ingredients such as carrots, mushrooms, and fish, talking his ear off about some study or another that said something something something about vitamins and nutrients. From those interactions, during which Eren paid little attention, Eren deduces that he’s health conscious, something that entirely fits his erudite persona.

Mikasa, similar to Sasha, will eat anything and everything, but only if it’s Eren who is doing the cooking. Even if it’s something as simple as baked beans, she savors the meal much more appreciatively when Eren prepares the food compared to when Jean or Connie are the chefs for the night. However, Eren’s notices that she especially enjoys the radish soup he previously created on a whim, likely because it was one of her mom’s old favorites.

Levi is the most difficult to analyze, not only because of his expressionless face but also due to his strict discipline. He never eats out of pleasure, and regardless of what slop is on the table, he won’t waste a single bite. Eren once overheard that Levi had come from the Underground and endured starvation as a child, which explains his behavior. Still, though, after a few weeks, Eren finally figured out that the man has a soft spot for what others deem a bland dish—green tea over cooked rice, topped with some seasoning for flavor.

From then on, they eat this at least once every three days.

Still, even with Eren spending all day brainstorming how to bring more variety to their previously monotonous meals, there’s a limit given the lack of ingredients. To resolve this issue, he decides to put his power to good use.

He hunts.

All he needs is a knife. Not even his 3DMG, because he can navigate with his speed just fine around the nearby forest, using the tree branches to ricochet off to his next target. It’s great news for the squad, who are elated when he brings back four rabbits, two squirrels, and a turkey after the first outing.

It’s not so good news for the wildlife, who have been spoiled by the lack of humans in the surrounding area for the past five years. The look of horror he saw on one creature’s face when he cut down his companion is one Eren will never forget. It was out of a genuine kindheartedness that Eren struck it down moments later, so that it won’t have to live through the rest of its short life battling grief and depression.

He gets tips from Sasha about areas that are more likely to yield prey, so that he doesn’t have to speed around the forest needlessly and waste time. She would join him herself, since she loves a good hunt, but unfortunately Captain Levi is set on running his new squad ragged until they can meet his standards and be ready for combat.

While he’s in the forest, he also forages for nuts, berries, and various fungi and herbs that can be used to add depth to their daily dinners. He doesn’t need a fishing pole to grab fish right out of the river that runs about a mile away from their shelter. With the grain and wheat crops grown on the farm, dessert is also now back on the menu as Eren tries his hand at various pies and pastries.

The squad thinks this is a blessing, but soon find that it is a double-edged sword, because their daily runs and exercises are made more difficult with the extra weight they put on from all the rich and delicious food, which they can’t help but request seconds and thirds and sometimes fourths of. Well, for everyone except for Sasha and Mikasa, the former because she has the best metabolism in all of Paradis, and the latter because nothing will ever diminish her warrior capabilities.

Still, the mood is noticeably elevated, and everyone seems to be in good spirits, despite the looming expedition to Shiganshina.

Historia’s demeanor changes even more when a messenger brings word that Ymir had been deemed to be an ally of their cause, and will be joining them on that expedition. They won’t see her until the actual day of, but nevertheless she is quietly elated.

When Eren asks Armin why Ymir only ever had a soft spot for Historia during dinner one night—grilled salmon with a rice pilaf—he receives another critical look of judgment. “Isn’t it obvious? She likes her!”

“Yeah, I know she likes her, but—“

“No, _like_ like. As in, a romantic sense.”

“Oh,” Eren blinks. He didn’t have anything against a pair of lovebirds that are both women, but now that he thinks about it he realizes he had never witnessed such a couple in his life. But, then again, if it’s possible for two men to be in a relationship (which he had seen on occasion), then it’s only fair that the same is applied to the opposite gender. “Well, now that makes sense.”

Armin shakes his head at him. “Seriously, Eren, I thought everyone knew. It’s so clear what their feelings are for each other.”

Eren turns his head, locking eyes with him. “So, sort of like you and Annie?”

Armin chokes on a fish bone, and Eren hastily thumps his back as he coughs through it. He can’t help but smile, though, just a little.

“NO, Eren, I don’t know what—what are you talking about? I—I’m not—we’re not—“

“Uh, huh. Just eat your salmon, Armin. Try not to choke this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled the most with this chapter (seriously, I don't know how people who write like 10,000 word chapters in one day do it??), because I wanted to incorporate both the unveiling of Reiner/Bertholdt as titan shifters and also the hilarious OPM scene where Saitama goes to the House of Evolution and battles the ultimate boss. I used the exact dialogue from there, but it was hard to come up with a comparable situation in which Eren could reasonably react the same way. Since they don't succeed in kidnapping Eren, but the revelation of him wielding the Founding Titan is important to the plot, I replicated that scene here, minus Hannes dying and Erwin losing his arm.
> 
> Gratuitous canon divergence! Sorry to Nanaba and Mike and Marco, but at least the Special Operations Squad and Hannes live on! 
> 
> Food comes up as a recurring theme partially because in OPM, that seems to be one of the few things that Saitama genuinely cares about, and partially because I love Chef!Eren and all the adorable fanfics about Eren being a master cook. Hopefully it didn't feel too filler-y.
> 
> UPDATE 1/30: Will probably be on hiatus for a little bit! I really wanted to stick by a schedule of 1 chapter every 5 days and finish this quickly, but school has just been a lot :/


End file.
